NY Post’s Joel Sherman is reporting that the New York Mets have traded Jon Gant and Rob Whalen to the Atlanta Braves for Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. Following the promotion of Michael Conforto earlier in the day, the Mets continued to bolster their offense by adding two veteran leaders, something that is much needed.
Uribe is batting .272 with 8 home runs and 23 RBIs this season. Uribe was dealt to the Braves earlier this season on May 23rd; the Mets were reportedly interested even then. Johnson is batting .275 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs.
Both Uribe and Johnson bring the leadership the Mets are lacking. Having young players on the roster such as Eric Campbell and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, both batting below .200, is something that will not get the Mets into the playoffs. The numbers that Uribe and Johnson currently posses are as good as any other player on the Mets’ current roster.
Uribe and Johnson are not changing the landscape of this division, but it is a start to helping the Mets bolster their anemic offense to try to win the division.
During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Sandy Alderson announced to reporters that he was prepared to take on more money from contracts. However, Alderson held off promising that any trade was on the way:
“We have great starting pitching that will get better over time,” Alderson said. “We’re cognizant of our strengths and our weaknesses. We are looking hard to improve those weaknesses. But we’re realistic too. Is there a window [for the pitching], yes, but as I said, it’s not a few weeks wide, it’s the longer view we have to take.”
“It doesn’t mean we are not going to do anything, it doesn’t mean we are not trying to make a deal. We are certainly aware of the team we have and the imbalance we have now with pitching and offense.”
“We’re not just looking at rentals. It could be a role player it could be somebody more significant.”
Time will tell if the Mets are prepared to take on more money, but this is the first step to doing so. Uribe and Johnson will add approximately $2.7 million to the payroll this year. The next step for the Mets is to add an every day bat to this lineup, if not two. The other positive to this trade is that it adds flexibility for Terry Collins when he makes the lineups every day.
The Mets have less than a week to show the fans they are fully invested in contending this season. Stay tuned.
